Category: Stuff About Me

Here I Stand!

On By AaronIn Faith, Potentially Political, Stuff About Me1 Comment

“…stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf…” (2Ch 20:17).”

Of course, I pulled this passage out of context.  This is a small portion of Jehoshaphat’s encouragement to his people, but the message is the same today, don’t be discouraged.  The more I look into the matter of vaccines derived from fetal material the more discouraged I become.  Last week, I wrote on the importance of the person’s body to sanctity, holiness, and worship.  I ended with the question of a vaccination’s impact on our holiness. The answer to that question rests on the morality of the vaccine in question and the morality of the COVID-19 vaccine is tied to their use of fetal material.

SENSITIVE CONTENT FOLLOWS: May Not Be Appropriate for All Readers

The two cell lines used by COVID vaccines for testing and/or development are HEK293 and PERC6 (Seidler 2021).  Both of these cell lines are derived from abortions (Seidler 2021).  It is easy to misunderstand that only one baby was used but that is not the case (Seidler 2021).  “Under oath, scientist Stanley Plotkin admitted that there were 76 aborted babies used in just one vaccine study (Seidler 2021).”

What was also horrifying was the necessity for the cells to be harvested in close proximity with the death of the child.  “Cell death renders the tissue unfit… tissues and organs must be harvested ‘within 5 minutes’ and at times this occurs while the baby’s heart is still beating (Seidler 2021).”  I am a seasoned veteran, experienced police officer, and now a new dad.  That earlier sentence was hard to type.  While there is no proof that live “harvesting” occurs the “harvesting… can be a type of torture beyond the normal abortion procedure (Seidler 2021).”  The “proximity to time of death” requirement also virtually assures that material from miscarriages cannot be used (Seidler 2021).  Bottom line, “you cannot derive a living cell culture from tissue that is already dead (Baklinski 2021).”

And this practice continues.  In 2015 the Chinese “harvested” for the cell line labeled WALVAX-2 (Seidler 2021).  Not only does the practice continue, it grows.  “In 1982 a container of 16,500 fetuses was found at the US home of a former laboratory owner.  In 2003, the Dutch company behind HEK293 sought aborted babies as far afield as New Zealand and Australia.  Journal articles discuss ‘the fetal tissue economy’ in Britain.  In 2019, 2,200 fetuses were found at an abortionist’s home and the court dispositions of Planned Parenthood staff showed harvesting continued at scale (Seidler 2021).”  Please, check out the cited source if you need more information.  It is highly referenced and footnoted.

I have shared much of this word for word because I want you to feel the same impact of those words that I have felt.  There are many other articles that I can cite but I think you know now where I stand.  What’s more is that the morality of abortion is pretty clearly understood by the church.  Where I serve, the Nazarene denomination (My endorsement for seminary was signed by a Nazarene pastor, I interned in a Nazarene church, and I am endorsed as a police/fire chaplain by the Nazarene denomination) has articulated their stance within their denominational manual.

Article 30 states, “The Church of the Nazarene believes in the sanctity of human life and strives to protect against abortion, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, and the withholding of reasonable medical care to handicapped or elderly (Blevins, et al. 2017).”

Article 30.2 states, “We oppose any use of genetic engineering that promotes social injustice, disregards the dignity of persons, or that attempts to achieve racial, intellectual, or social superiority over others (eugenics). We oppose initiation of DNA studies whose results might encourage or support human abortion as an alternative to term live birth (Blevins, et al. 2017).”

Article 30.3 states, “Our stand on human embryonic stem cell research flows from our affirmation that the human embryo is a person made in the image of God. Therefore, we oppose the use of stem cells produced from human embryos for research, therapeutic interventions, or any other purpose.  …we oppose the destruction of human embryos for any purpose and any type of research that takes the life of a human after conception. Consistent with this view, we oppose the use, for any purpose, of tissue derived from aborted human fetuses. (Blevins, et al. 2017).”

While these are the articles of the Nazarene denomination every denomination that rejects abortion on moral grounds articulates their argument in similar ways.  All reason from the foundation of the truth of scripture (Genesis 2:7, 9:6; Exodus 20:13; 21:12–16, 22-25; Leviticus 18:21; Job 31:15; Psalms 22:9; 139:3–16; Isaiah 44:2, 24; 49:5; Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 1:15, 23–25, 36–45; Acts 17:25; Romans 12:1–2; 1 Corinthians 6:16; 7:1ff.; 1 Thessalonians 4:3–6).  But what of the product of an abortion?  Does the immorality of the original act transfer to any act that follows?

The Catholic church actually published moral reflections on that very question (Pontifical Academy for Life n.d.).  The Vatican identified taking of a vaccine derived from aborted fetal material as passive cooperation in the act of abortion (Pontifical Academy for Life n.d.).  They are very specific about the consequent actions of the faithful.  “It is up to the faithful and citizens of upright conscience (fathers of families, doctors, etc.) to oppose, even by making an objection of conscience, the ever more widespread attacks against life and the “culture of death” which underlies them… Furthermore, on a cultural level, the use of such vaccines contributes in the creation of a generalized social consensus to the operation of the pharmaceutical industries which produce them in an immoral way (Pontifical Academy for Life n.d.).”

The final sentence of that last paragraph is born out by fact.  Those companies that developed the cell lines have been rewarded by their continued use and benefit from the original murder (Seidler 2021).  Additionally, there is an impact on the parents that the church should be discouraging from opting for an abortion.  Polls have indicated, “that parents are more likely to choose abortion if ‘medical use’ of a fetus is possible (Seidler 2021).”

You may disagree with me at this point but combined with last weeks argument that our worship includes how we choose to use our bodies it seems to me that to refuse to use a vaccine on the conscientious grounds that its development is tied to the unethical killing of a baby, or babies, by an industry that continues to this day is a legitimate act of worship.  James writes, “religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world (Jam 1:27).”  Summarizing this passage J.Ronald Blue writes, “a believer with God-pleasing ‘religion’ helps others in need—and thus is faultless (lit., ‘pure, undefiled’), and keeps himself pure (lit., ]clean’) (Walvoord and Zuck 2004, 924).”  Who is in more need than the defenseless occupant of a womb belonging to parents bent on killing him or her?

What is most fascinating to me is that at the time of this writing I am applying for a religious exemption against the COVID-19 mandate in which my employer is asking for a statement “supporting the basis of the observant’s faith/beliefs which are contrary to the practice of vaccination or use of the COVID-19 vaccination” and the response of the Nazarene denomination is that “an exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine cannot be claimed based on Article 14, or our denominational polity.”  Article 14 reads: “We believe in the [Bible] biblical doctrine of divine healing and urge our people to offer the prayer of faith for the healing of the sick. We also believe God heals through the means of medical science (Blevins, et al. 2017).”  I guess “or our denominational polity” covers the articles cited earlier.

Article 28.4 reads, “In listing practices to be avoided we recognize that no catalog, however inclusive, can hope to encompass all forms of evil throughout the world. Therefore, it is imperative that our people earnestly seek the aid of the Spirit in cultivating a sensitivity to evil that transcends the mere letter of the law; remembering the admonition: ‘Test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil (1Th 5:21-22).’”  And yet when their people take an earnest stand those same people are told by their church that “the decision will be entirely personal.”  In essence you are on your own.  And so here I stand!

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Baklinski, Pete. Babies were aborted alive, placed in fridge to harvest cell lines used in some vaccines: researcher. 2 19, 2021. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/babies-were-aborted-alive-placed-in-fridge-to-harvest-cell-lines-used-in-some-vaccines-researcher/?utm_source=lifefacts (accessed 10 31, 2021).

Blevins, Dean G., Stanley J. Rodes, Terry S. Sowden, James W. Spear, and David P. Wilson, . Church of the Nazarene Manual: 2017-2021. Kansas City, MO: NAZARENE PUBLISHING HOUSE, 2017.

Pontifical Academy for Life. Moral Reflections on Vaxccines Prepared from Cells Derived from Aborted Human Fetuses. Pontifical Academy for Life. n.d. https://www.immunize.org/talking-about-vaccines/vaticandocument.htm (accessed 10 24, 2021).

Seidler, Thomas. Vaccines using fetal tissue: 12 faulty assumptions. 4 1, 2021. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/vaccines-using-fetal-tissue-12-faulty-assumptions/?utm_source=lifefacts (accessed 10 31, 2021).

Walvoord, John F., and Roy B. Zuck. The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Dallas: Cook Communications Ministries, 2004.

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The Bitterness of this Life

On By AaronIn Bitterness, Faith, Hope, Jesus, Stuff About Me6 Comments

I have always envied my sister’s ability to empathize with almost anyone.  She has a gift.  Her heart feels and she reacts in some of the most profound, heartfelt, and touching ways.  I don’t have that gift.  I should have once, and she had to come along side me and even tell me what to do.  I remember telling her that in hindsight I should have known but it doesn’t always come naturally to me.  I am an old soldier.  When I hear of the loss of a soldier my heart breaks and aches and as a soldier, I know what to say and what to do.  But then I had to pick up my ruck and move out.  As a police officer I often dealt with people in their most dire moments.  In those situations, I can understand and even empathize.  But then I had to move onto the next call; probably just as dire as the last one.  Where I struggle is when my friends and loved ones are in distress.  I rarely know how to comfort them.

Today, when I jumped in my car to go to lunch, I found that I had received a text from my wife.  She was asking me to pray for her friend.  Her friend’s granddaughter is dying.  She had been diagnosed with a rare and deadly disease and in the course of that fight she had developed what I understand as a secondary complication.  She is not responding to the treatments and surgery is not an option.  These are quite literally her last days.

I prayed, and I prayed some more.  I don’t want this for her, I don’t want this for her mother, and I don’t want this for her grandmother.  What a bitter cup to swallow.  By the time I had made it into town I had stopped three times nearly in tears to pray.  My heart is in anguish for them. I want to reach out to them.  I want to take this from them.  Anguish is the best description.

Maybe that is the secret to my sister’s gift. She has lost a daughter. She has anguished over seriously ill children in those unknown moments and the uncertainty of outcomes. Maybe the ability to emphasize is in the sharing or the knowing of the taste of that cup. I am a new father. I think this has moved me closer to a clearer empathy. I can’t help but think, “what if this were my daughter?” I can now sense the depth of the anguish. But how would I handle it? I know, this is an extreme form of asking God for patience. You have to be careful because in asking God for patience you are asking for opportunities to be patient. I would not want this cup and I am not asking for it. But how do we persevere? In the midst of my thoughts and prayers I was reminded of another cup; another cup of anguish.

Jesus’ anguish here is real.

“And he took with him Peter and James and John and began to be greatly distressed and troubled.  And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”  And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me… (Mar 14:33-36).”  Jesus’ anguish here is real.  Matthew records that in that anguish Jesus fell on his face before His prayer (Mat 26:39) and in Luke we read that he sweat great drops of blood and an angel was even sent to encourage Him (Luk 22:43-44).

I don’t know what cup you are holding in your hand today but if it is a bitter cup, a cup that you desperately don’t want to drink know that our savior can empathize.  He knows the desperation that comes in the holding of that cup!  But what got Him through?  How and why did He persevere?  Are you ready…?  Because I know the answer and you are going to think it insufficient.

Jesus had a complete faith and trust that His father’s plan was good.

Jesus had a complete faith and trust that His father’s plan was good.  Jesus ended His prayer, “Yet not what I will, but what you will (Mar 14:33-36, ESV).”  He was resting in His knowledge of the Goodness of God.

Jesus knew who He was (Joh 8:23).  Jesus knew where He was from and where He was going (Joh 8:14) and I have no doubt that the angel sent to encourage Him reminded Him of those facts.  He also knew that what He had to do was necessary (Joh 12:31-32).  Necessary, not for Him but for you and me (Joh 3:16).  Finally, He knew that the one who had sent Him had not left Him (Joh 8:29).

Believer, do you know who you are in Jesus?  Do you know where you are from and where you are going?  Do you know that your God has not left you?  Let’s be honest, apart from the hope of an eternity in Jesus we can only hope for more time between bitter cups because in this life more bitter cups are coming.  But we, who are in Christ, know that a day is coming when our cups will be filled only with joy.  “Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry.  I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow (Jer 31:13).”  My friend, who I know to be a believer, will one day be reunited with her granddaughter, who I also know to be a believer.

I pray that the fear of the Lord will move you to repentance.

Unbeliever, do you know who you are apart from Jesus?  Do you know where you are from and where you are going?  Do you know that one day you will be subject to the judgment of your God?  I pray that the fear of the Lord will move you to repentance before it is too late.  A day is coming when it will be.  “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins (Joh 8:24).”

Two things that I would ask of you as I wrap up this post. First, my friend will be reunited with her granddaughter regardless of whether God grants us a miracle. Her prayer has already been answered and her granddaughter has already been saved from death (Heb 5:9). I am praying a miracle for my friend because I want one for her and because my God is able (Heb 5:7). Pray with us for that miracle in confidence that God’s will is going to be done. Second, be patient with those who have not yet drank from a bitter cup that you may already know well. It is only a matter of time, and they too will taste of the bitterness of this life. When they do, and it is of a vintage that you already know, then they will need you to guide them through the tears that come with that cup.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

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Laboring in Love

On By AaronIn Stuff About MeLeave a comment

“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”  Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”  Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”  Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?  Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life (Joh 3:1-15, ESV).”

I can’t believe it has already been a month since I watched the miracle of my daughter being born into this world.  It was a difficult delivery, and my wife was most impressive.  Have you ever wondered how you would hold up under adversity?  Have you ever wondered how far you would go under the influence of pain and discomfort?  Have you ever wondered what you would go through for another person?  I now know how far my wife will go for one she loves.  I suspect that she is capable of more but from this moment on I now know how far she went.  Who I see her to be and my understanding of what motivates her has changed in a big way.

I was again reminded of one of my favorite verses.  “…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb 12:2).”  Women, since the Garden of Eden have endured childbirth for the joy that was set before them.  I witnessed my wife endure and I witnessed, no I shared, in the joy that her endurance produced.

In the Gospel of John, Chapter 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that to see the Kingdom of God you must be born again (Joh 3:4).  Of course, Nicodemus reacts with astonishment.  How can one be born again?  Jesus doubles down in His response, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again (Joh 3:5-7).’”

That got me thinking.  To be born of water, to be born into this world, requires the endurance of an ordeal that is difficult to match short of pointing to an act of intentional torture.  Does being born of the spirit require the endurance of an ordeal and if so, who must endure that ordeal?

The first obvious answer is to point to that which Christ endured on the Cross.  In Isaiah we read, “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities (Isa 53:11).”  John A. Martin commenting on this passage notes, “his suffering, which included His death, led to life (His resurrection). Satisfied that His substitutionary work was completed (“It is finished,” John 19:30), He now can justify (declare righteous) those who believe (Walvoord and Zuck 2004).”  Jesus had to die for you and me to be accounted righteous.  “…as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life (Joh 3:15).”

But I think there is second sense in which an ordeal must be endured. At the moment of belief, when we accept Jesus as our Lord and savior, it is a very clear fact that we are not whisked away to be at home with Him. We remain until He calls us home. God, for His own reasons, has asked us to participate in His work of salvation. From the moment you are saved, your life is no longer your own and your duty is to bring the Word of God, His good news, to the lost and the dying of this world. I am reminded of Corrie ten Boom, forced to survive a Nazi concentration camp for helping Jews to escape Germany, who came to count flees and lice a blessing. It was the flees and lice that kept the Nazis out of her barracks long enough for the prisoners to hold a small bible study. Is that not a difficult delivery? Was Corrie’s ability to count it a blessing not connected to the joy that was set before her, the joy of being present at the moment her fellow prisoners were born of the Spirit? The moment they accepted Jesus and were born again.

Paul, encouraging the Galatians writes, “…I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you (Gal 4:19)!” At the time of my daughter’s delivery the labor seemed endless. But it was only for a little while and then our joy was made complete. Our labors for those who are lost are also for only a little while. I would encourage you Christian to continue in the knowledge that one day your joy will be complete. The joy of living in fellowship with your Christian brothers and sisters for eternity.

One last thought, those for who we labor are both the source of our pain and the source of our joy.  The passage in which Jesus tells Nikodemus that he must be born again has a small intro…

“Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.  But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man (Joh 2:23-25).”

It seemed to me to be a strange introduction to the encounter but now from the perspective that men are the source of our pain in labor it seems to me that Jesus is saying that He knows with whom we are struggling. He knew and knows how difficult our labor can be. Again, keep laboring on in humbleness and gentleness of Spirit and always in prayer for those that Jesus loves we must love also.

Thanks for reading and do not forget to subscribe to my e-mail below.  I am working on some great things and I would hate for you to miss out.

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Of Shotguns and Christmas Gifts

On By AaronIn Stuff About MeLeave a comment

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2Ti 3:14-17, ESV).”

It was almost a lifetime ago that I went to the Oregon State Basic Police Academy.  It could be close to twenty years.  In fact, when I went to the Basic Police and Fire Chaplaincy course at the Oregon Police Academy, I thought I would get my police records just to have a copy.  Turns out I could not just request them through the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) because they had been moved into the archives.  I had to request them through a different agency.  The lady at the desk said I could go online and make the request.  I imagined the scene at the end of Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark as they wheeled the Ark of the Covenant into a Top-Secret warehouse filled with antiquities.  Perhaps my files were in the same building.  It could take months to get my records.  While I was relaying my Raiders of the Lost Ark story to the lady at the desk she decided to just go to the website and help me out.  I had my records emailed to me before I got back to class that day.

Anyway, I remember the police academy like it was yesterday.  That kid’s voice still haunts my thoughts although his body probably would not score as high on the physical fitness test these days.  Two days I especially remember, the emergency vehicle operation day and the range day.

I did not expect emergency vehicle operation to be so much fun.  I had not given it much thought really.  They taught us that because of the location of the center of gravity it was impossible to roll your car if you stayed on flat dry pavement.  They gave us a car and an old airport runway and told us to prove them wrong.  I still remember the conversation I had with myself as I brought the car to eighty mph with the intent of doing a hard ninety-degree turn.  Turns out at eighty mph it is hard to make your body obey that command.  I did a couple of three sixties and made a few more attempts but I never proved the instructors wrong.  At the end of the day the academy had us park all the training cars at the local tire shop.  Each class required new tires.  Man did we have fun!

I expected range day to be fun.  I grew up hunting and had already gone through basic training for the Army.  We practiced and qualified with our duty weapons, went through some simulation training, and got familiar with the rifle but it was the shotgun familiarization that I have been thinking about lately.

I do not remember the model, but I remember they gave us only one round more than the shotgun could hold and about six seconds to go through this little shooting scenario.  I told them I was going to need a few more rounds if they were going to give me six whole seconds.  They laughed at me but obliged by asking me how many I thought I needed.  One of the purposes of the scenario was to teach us the difficulty of rapid reload with a shotgun.  I went into the scenario with a fully loaded weapon, three or four rounds stuck in the band of my “boonie” cap, three in between the fingers of my pump hand, and one more in my teeth just for good measure.  They laughed some more but I was all in now.

“Were you born with a shotgun in your hands?”

Range Sergeant

Before my six seconds were up, I had expended every round and hit every target.  They had never seen someone fire and load so quickly.  There was no laughter when the range sergeant asked, “were you born with a shotgun in your hands?”

The truth was pretty close.  I do not remember when I first started bird hunting but every fall my dad, and brothers, and I would compete for who could bring home the most pheasant, quail, and ducks.  The competition was so fierce we eventually had to resort to different shot sizes so that if a kill were contested the autopsy would reveal who got the point.  I could shoot fast and I could shoot accurate even with a plug limiting the amount of rounds I could load.

What is my point?  Well, it is Christmas eve 2020 and my wife and I are on the eve of another sort.  We are one day past our due date and so the eve of our daughter’s birth is upon us.  The anticipation is almost too much to bear. I have spent the last nine months in almost constant contemplation of what it means to be a father.  How do I do it right? What do I want for my daughter?  How can I prepare her for her generation?  Paul, writing to encourage Timothy, reminded him to continue in what he believed, trusting in what he had learned, and to rest on his understanding of the Scriptures.

“If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.”

First Timothy 4:6

I know that there is no guarantee.  You can do all the right parenting and still your child will make decisions contrary to how he or she was raised.  But what I do want, and what I think I can do is give my daughter an understanding of the Word and encourage her to know it well. I want to put these things before her. Then, someday, when a false teacher is trying to convince her of a lie, she will know the truth so well that any false teacher will have to ask, “were you born with a Biblical understanding?”

I want her to know what Christmas is about.  I want her to know how much her God loves her and to what extent He was willing to go to demonstrate that love.  I want her to be as familiar with her Bible as I was with a shotgun growing up.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;

       yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

   But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

       upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

   All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

       and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Isaiah 53:4–6

I know that some of you might worry that I will “pound” the Bible into my daughter’s head.  Or have to force her to church every Sunday.  But what I know is that no one had to force me out of bed before dawn and remind me to grab my shotgun and ammo.  And it was not the drive of competition but rather the opportunity to spend another day with my family doing what I enjoyed.  I want to give her a love of the Word that comes from a desire to spend time in fellowship with those who believe because she knows that God loves them too.

Shouldn’t every Christian want this first for themselves and then for the Church? Shouldn’t we all have the ability to rightly divide and understand God’s Word (2Ti 2:15)?

Merry Christmas everyone.  I hope that this season finds you confident in what God has done for you in the gift that is Jesus the Christ!  Oh, how He loves us!

Thanks for reading and do not forget to subscribe to my e-mail below.  I am working on some great things and I would hate for you to miss out.

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Pregnancy, Punishment, and Prophecy

On By AaronIn Stuff About Me2 Comments

It is almost Thanksgiving and I wanted to give everyone an update on our expected Christmas gift.  We are getting closer!!! If you haven’t heard my wife and I are expecting a daughter towards the end of December.

I put the car seat in the car the other day.  There are two ways to anchor the seat to the frame.  I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to engage both systems when the instructions state you should only use one or the other.  Of course, as soon as you know you should only use one then installing the seat becomes a lot easier.

For the most part our hospital bag is packed.  I had not even considered that I might need some things in a bag as well.  We are not yet close enough that I worry that we could go to the hospital at any moment, but we are close enough that it is not outside of the realm of possibilities.  Soon, I will meet my daughter as she takes her first breaths.  I am excited!!!

“My hat is off to all those men and women who have been called to service in this endeavor we call childbirth.”

I do have to say that those portions of the birthing class that depict the details of the process, specifically the pain and pain management, are not comfortable.  At one point a scream could be heard in the video’s audio and I had to swallow hard.  And it is not just the pain.  Just about everything to do with childbirth and pregnancy is painful, uncomfortable and/or inconvenient.  I just learned about breastfeeding and it is not as easy as I thought.  There is such a thing as a breastfeeding consultant.  My hat is off to all those men and women who have been called to service in this endeavor we call childbirth.  Thank you!

Anyway, I have often wondered, “why are we being punished?  we didn’t eat the apple.”  That question has always existed, but it is very apparent for me today.

The reference is to the fall as recorded in Genesis.  Satan had convinced Eve to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 3:1-5).  When she did, she gave a portion to Adam who was with her, implying that he heard the whole argument and could have stepped in at any time (Gen 3:6).  The ultimate consequence of this action is that sin is let loose on the creation and as a result death.  But the immediate consequences are that Satan, or the serpent, is cursed to crawl on his belly and eat dust, man is cursed to work a ground that will fight his efforts, and the travail of women in childbirth will be greatly increased.

“To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children.”

Genesis 3:16

But is this a punishment for Adam and Eve’s sin or is there more to this?  Punishment in the bible comes from the idea of judgment.  It is what is owed for an offense.  It is both the recognition that something is not fair and the appeal that it be put right.  Adam and Eve have committed an offense and a judgment is owed.  But what is that judgment?  What is the cost?  Today we hear about the unjustness of a God who would punish someone for an eternity on the account of a finite offense.  But that is based on a misunderstanding of the offense (more on that here).  The cost of an offense has as much to do with who was offended against as it does with what the offense was.  Adam and Eve had offended against an infinite creator the judgment will carry in its value an infinite cost.

What this means is that Eve’s difficulty bearing her child can not be a punishment in that it can not pay the judgment owed.  It is finite.  It would be a finite payment in exchange for an infinite debt.  That check would be returned insufficient funds.  In fact, should all the difficult childbearing of every women down through time be offered in payment the check would still be returned insufficient funds.  That is why Jesus was required.  He is the only eternal man capable of paying that check.

“The sins that lead to the divorce can be forgiven by the atoning work of Jesus but, this side of His return, the consequences often remain; divided custody and the challenges of mixed marriages.”

It, childbirth, must be a consequence then.  Sometimes our sins bear consequences.  The brokenness of a home divided by divorce can be a good example.  The sins that lead to the divorce can be forgiven by the atoning work of Jesus but, this side of His return, the consequences often remain; divided custody and the challenges of mixed marriages. The payment is made but the scars remain.

Still, as a consequence, difficult childbirth is strange.  It does not appear to be connected to the crime.  It follows that an adolescence who commits a crime and comes out of years of prison as an older adult would have their development arrested.  Although they have paid for their crime, they now find themselves in a world without the skills that their peers, who did not go to prison, developed in that time.  It follows that a thief and an adulterer would not be trusted as readily, and a convicted child molester should not be put in charge of a daycare.  Most consequences follow from the sin, but a difficult childbirth does not seem to follow from the sin of disobedience to God.

“…that something is of great joy.”

Then the other day, our midwife reminded us to remember that every pain, every discomfort, is moving us towards something and that something is of great joy.  I was reminded of another great joy.  The writer of Hebrews tells us that we are to look, “to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross (Heb 12:2).”  It is one of my regular “go to” verses because I am always reminded that Jesus did what we needed Him to do for us because we are the joy that is set before him.  The difficulty of childbirth is endured for the joy that is set before the parents.

Could it be then that the penalty placed on Eve and handed down through her was not meant to pay the judgment but rather to point to the necessity of a worthy payment and then to the results of that payment?  I think so.  Looking through the Bible the labor of childbirth is often synonymous with most of what we would call the result of the fall.  Jesus describes the coming of the end with wars and rumors of war, famines, and earthquakes as the beginning of the birth pains (Mat 24:6-8).  I have often wondered how we will recognize those birth pains from what we already see today.  The reality is that they are all the birth pains that could one day lead to great joy.

“In the midst of the nation’s sin Hosea pleads with the people of Israel to recognize their situation.”

But beware!  There are risks.  Hosea, writing in the Old Testament gives us a little more clarity.  In the midst of the nation’s sin Hosea pleads with the people of Israel to recognize their situation.  He writes, “The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is kept in store.  The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son, for at the right time he does not present himself at the opening of the womb (Hos 13:12-13).”  Hosea is describing a still birth.  Ephraim has gone through a life under the consequences and influence of the fall and failed to come into real life.  You must be born of The Spirit offered freely by the blood of Jesus.

How difficult would childbirth have to be to be synonymous with the reality of sin?  If sin can be understood through the paradigm of difficult childbirth what would constitute the joy that is on the other side of the labor?  How great is the loss at spiritual still birth?  I don’t yet know why the fall was necessary but what I do know is that Jesus has paid the judgment price for my sin and the sins of the world and the day I believed that to be true I became an inheritor of the joy that was set before Him.  Do not go through this life to miss that!

“What would it take for a human being to be born into eternity?”

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you (Joh 16:20-22).”

What would it take for a human being to be born into eternity?  A judgment equal to the penalty must be paid.  Jesus after telling Nikodemus that he must be born again, (Joh 3:1-8) concludes that in order to be born again you must believe that the Son of Man was lifted up to bear the sins of all (Joh 3:9-15).  It turns out that the difficulty of childbirth is one of those earthly things that God uses so that we can understand spiritual things.

Thanks for reading and do not forget to subscribe to my e-mail below.  I am working on some great things and I would hate for you to miss out.

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Good Cop, Bad Cop, …and 28 Jelly Beans

On By AaronIn Stuff About Me2 Comments

The other day I had the privilege of taking my adorable wife to our local clinic so that she could be tested for gestational diabetes. And it IS one of the great privileges of this life to be able to enjoy it walking beside her. Often I will chuckle and she will ask me, “what are you laughing at?” And often I will answer, “just you.” It is not a statement of condescension but rather a statement of incredulity. I love her tremendously and yet we are so different it is hard to believe that she agreed to partner with me. That God has chosen her as my help mate is something that I will be smiling about for eternity.

Anyway, our trip was short and as she sat with her small bag of Jelly Belly jelly beans reading the flavors to me I started to realize that we hadn’t properly prepared for this appointment. The doctor had informed her that she would need to bring twenty-eight beans for this particular test. She has a few allergies and it would be important that we select the flavors that are least likely to contain anything that will trigger those reactions. Additionally, while I could just grab the first twenty eight beans that came out of the bag that is not in my wife’s nature. It came to me that we probably should have selected our 28 beans prior to our departure. This is the kind of decision that my wife would consider heavily not just in terms of which beans will trigger her allergies, but which flavors she would prefer, and which flavors would complement versus those that would distract from the others. The time required to drive to the clinic proved insufficient for making these decisions and, as we are living in the days of COVID, I had to leave her at the door of the clinic to proceed on her own.

Later, as she related her story, I learned that there were two nurses in the clinic who had assisted her in this process. She dutifully proffered her bag of jelly beans and clearly one nurse was sympathetic to Sarah’s plight while the other was less so; the good cop and the bad cop. As she told me the story I imagined the good cop holding out her gloved hands as she patiently received each of Sarah’s decided beans while the bad cop forcefully pronounced, “you only have five minutes to get this done!” The whole event culminating in the bad cop saying, “just put them all in your mouth” and Sarah resolutely doing as she was told. I chuckled again as my wife explained to me that she thought five minutes would be enough time to “enjoy” 28 jelly beans. Of course she did.

“How did I marry someone so different or more precisely how did I convince someone so different to marry me?”

As it turned out it was barely enough time to select them and then chew the whole mass into submission. As she asked, “what are you laughing at” I was amazed at her completely different understanding and conception of time than mine. Now please, this is not a moral judgment except in that she and I are different. I am an army officer and planner who trains army officers in the planning process. I once synchronized a one week collection plan down to two minute intervals. I would have plotted it down to the minute but Excel wouldn’t let me have enough columns and rows! How did I marry someone so different or more precisely how did I convince someone so different to marry me? And yet, her differences are so incredibly attractive to me and they never cease to surprise me in new and amusing ways.

Most of my family has heard that Sarah and I are expecting. But this may be new to some of my friends and I do apologize if you are hearing this news for the first time in this blog. We are in a high risk category and we are trying to temper our excitement with our desire not to “jinx” anything. Today, I find myself worrying about almost everything. I pray that our daughter is healthy, and smart, and beautiful. But most important I pray that Sarah and I are able to give her everything she needs to be prepared. Everyday, the world seems to be moving faster and things, often distant things, that I don’t understand have an impact on the very local nature of our day to day lives. Will I be able to prepare her for a world in which I struggle just to keep up? How will we prepare her for the times and the challenges that her generation will have? What will those challenges be?

This morning as I was reading through First Samuel I was struck by the story of Hannah and her son as contrasted to the story of Levi and his sons. Both Hannah and Levi were committed and devoted to the Lord and yet Hannah’s son grew up to be a man of character who understood the moral nature of his standing before God while it was written of Levi’s sons that they, “were worthless men. They did not know the Lord (1Sa 2:12, ESV).” Hannah had been barren and had prayed, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life…(1Sa 1:11)”. She prayed so earnestly and passionately that her lips moved through her silent prayer that Eli, the priest, thought she was drunk. Her prayers were heard and God answered with the birth of Samuel. Her prayer of response was, “For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord (1Sa 1:27-28).” In other words her prayer was that the Lord would raise Him. For another child I have prayed. A child that will soon arrive.

“I have no illusions that even if it were possible to be the “perfect” parent that the outcome is assured.”

I have no doubt that Levi prayed earnestly for his sons. I have no illusions that even if it were possible to be the “perfect” parent that the outcome is assured. But my prayer is that the Lord will use Sarah and I to raise His daughter that she will fear the Lord and come to love Him for what He has done for her. The salvation of her parents is assured I want her to know that, so that she will one day make a decision of her own will to place her trust in God for her salvation. What ever successes and failures that she has in this life, in those times that will be given to her, are insignificant in the absence of the one fact of her salvation.

“Why should Christians live obedient lives unto God?”

Adam Clarke, commenting on the worthlessness of Eli’s sons, writes, “These men were the principal cause of all the ungodliness of Israel. Their most execrable conduct… caused the people to abhor the Lord’s offering. An impious priesthood is the grand cause of the transgressions and ruin of any nation…” Why should Christians live obedient lives unto God? Because once our salvation is secure it is not about us anymore. Our obedience becomes a testimony before our nation and our world. Our obedience is about what everyone around us sees, that at the very best they would ask about our hope and our faith and at worse that we would not be the cause that brings anyone to, “abhor the Lord’s offering.”

I have learned much about God’s nature by trying to imitate Him within the context of my marriage. More often than not it only reveals not that I am a miserable husband but how much my flesh gets in the way of being the husband that I desire to be. I am confident that I will learn much about God’s nature as I struggle to be a father. It will probably reveal more ways in which my flesh will get in the way. But as long as I continue to persevere in my faith in God’s goodness towards the goodness that He has promised me He will not be ashamed to call Himself my God (Heb 11:16). And as one of His own my obedience will not hinder my daughter from drawing near to Him as well.

Thanks for reading and do not forget to subscribe to my e-mail below.  I am working on some great things and I would hate for you to miss out.

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